Apr. 22, 2013

Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

One worker was killed and another injured Monday afternoon in an explosion at the Village of Dexter’s wastewater treatment plant.

The men were working on the lid of a large tank used to store and breakdown sludge when the explosion happened just after 1:30 p.m. at the plant at 8360 Huron, said Courtney Nicholls, assistant village manger of the Washtenaw County community.

Both workers were taken to the University of Michigan Hospitals. Nicholls said one worker, a 48-year-old man, died. She said the other worker, a 23-year-old man, is in stable condition. She did not have information about their hometowns.

Dexter Area Fire Department Chief Loren Yates said he believes the workers were disassembling part of the tank at the time of the blast. Nicholls said the men were doing work as part of a project to replace the tank’s lid.

“They were cutting some steel out of it. We think they were using torches, and it ignited methane gas,” Yates said.

Yates said firefighters found the two men on the roof of a building connected to the outdoor tank. He said he believes one man was blown out of the tank, while the second worker was helped out by other workers at the scene.

Nicholls said the men were working as subcontractors for a contractor involved with a $3.3 million project to improve sludge handling at the plant. A man who answered the phone at the contractor, AZ Shmina Inc., late Monday afternoon said he had not heard about the explosion.

The plant remained operational after the explosion, Nicholls said

Officials said the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office is investigating. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration was also expected to be at the scene Monday afternoon.